Forbidden Life
by JaySand
Summary: In BirdClan's territory, the three kits Foxkit, Winterkit, and Shadekit are forbidden to live because their father was a traitor and their mother is dead. In order to protect them, Twilightsong and Sweetrose, two BirdClan warriors who are the kits' only living kin, leave BirdClan, taking the kits with them, and join a small rogue group called Peaceful Life. Meanwhile, a war rages
1. Chapter 1

**Allegiances**

**BirdClan**

**Leader: **Brackenstar, light brown and yellow tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Blackfall, large black tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cats: **

Yellowdust, old light yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowheart, dark brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and paws with blue eyes

**Warriors:**

(Only mentioning those who are mentioned in this chapter)

Twilightsong, light gray-and-black tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Sweetrose, small orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes

**Queens:**

Mossmeadow, honey-colored she-cat with hazel eyes

**Kits:**

Shadekit, smoky-gray almost-black tom with green eyes

Winterkit, pure white tom with ice-blue eyes and hardly visible, light gray spots on his back

Foxkit, orange-and-red she-cat with green eyes and black paws.

**SquirrelClan**

**Leader: **Sagestar, very light gray she-cat with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Graypatch, dark gray tom with lighter patches

**RabbitClan  
**

**Leader: Littlestar, small light brown tabby tom with brown eyes**

**Deputy: **Shelltail, cream-colored she-cat with green eyes

_I shouldn't be doing this. I shouldn't be doing this. Brackenstar is going to kill me for this. Oh, but I have to. For Hawkblaze. _These were the words that repeated in Twilightsong's mind as he carried three kits into Rocky Hollow under the cover of darkness. _Hawkblaze would want me to save his kits. So would Pinepelt. _Pinepelt and Hawkblaze were the kits' mother and father. They were both dead.

Seven moons before, a rogue group that called themselves Peaceful Life had settled in a small forest beside BirdClan's territory. Not long after they had settled in and marked their territory, the leader of Peaceful Life, Gray Stone, came into BirdClan's territory, and told BirdClan's leader, Brackenstar, that they were a harmless group, and explained that they wished to live side by side with the Clans in peace. However, Brackenstar saw all rogues as a threat. She had developed a strong hatred for cats outside the Clans, ever since her own father and sister had been killed by suspected that Gray Stone was only trying to trick her Clan into thinking they meant no harm so that Peaceful life could easily attack BirdClan. This, of course, was not true, as Peaceful Life was only half the size of BirdClan and most of it's cats did not know much about fighting. Brackenstar embarked on a quest to either destroy Peaceful Life or drive them far, far away from her Clan. She had BirdClan attack Peaceful Life's camp twice , and both times the rogues all retreated or admitted to losing after hardly fighting at all. Most of BirdClan's cats did not think Peaceful Life was a threat, but Brackenstar was a strong, great, and wise leader that had led them well for many moons, and they trusted that she knew what she was doing. Twilightsong's brother, Hawkblaze, however, knew that it was wrong to harm such defenseless cats.

Hawkblaze and one of BirdClan's medicine cats, Fallenleaf, went into Peaceful Life's camp. They brought prey, as the cats were starving because they had no time to hunt and had to spend all of their time trying to prepare for the next attack. Fallenleaf brought herbs and helped heal the wounded cats. Hawkblaze gave the cats little lessons to improve their fighting skills a bit and Fallenleaf educated a few of the cats on the basics of treating battle wounds. The two of them stayed with Peaceful Life for a few hours and then returned to Birdclan's camp unnoticed. They continued to make little trips like these to Peaceful Life's camp to bring prey and herbs every quarter-moon. A third battle between BirdClan and Peaceful Life took place. Once again. BirdClan won the battle, but Peaceful Life fought harder this time. Not long after the third battle with Peaceful Life, an ongoing war with SquirrelClan and BirdClan broke out. Birdclan grew weaker from fighting two wars at once, and the fourth time that they attacked Peaceful Life they actually lost the battle. Peaceful Life's cats were better at defending themselves because of Hawkblaze and Fallenleaf's secret trips. Only a few days after the fourth battle, Hawkblaze and Fallenleaf made another trip to Peaceful Life's camp to bring prey and herbs, but Blackfall, the BirdClan deputy, caught them. He realized what they had been doing and reported them to Brackenstar.

Brackenstar was a great leader, but she had two major flaws. The first flaw was her hatred for cats outside the Clans. Her second flaw was the way she handeled punishment. Normally, Hawkblaze and Fallenleaf would have been exiled, but Brackenstar didn't beleive in exile. She beleived that if a cat betrayed the Clan that had raised them and helped them survive, they did not deserve to live. In short, any cat who was worthy of being exiled, was instead executed by Brackenstar. And that was what happened to Hawkblaze and Fallenleaf. Shortly before Hawkblaze's death, his mate, Pinepelt, had started expecting his kits. Brackenstar said that she would not raise the kits of a traitor, and said that one the kits were four moons old they would have to be taken out of BirdClan's territory and left to die. Pinepelt told Brackenstar that she would not leave her kits to die and that when it came time for her kits to leave, she would leave with them. Brackenstar agreed. Tragically, Pinepelt ended up dying while kitting. One of her kits had died with her, but the other three survived. Brackenstar sent the kits away when they were all one moon old. Twilightsong and his mate, Sweetrose, knew that the three kits would be sure to die if they were all alone so young. They had been ordered to take the kits away from BirdClan's territory, but that wasn't what they were doing. Instead, they were hiding the three kits in Rocky Hollow, a stone ravine that lay in BirdClan's territory. Cats rarely hunted there or patrolled there, so the kits were sure to be hidden. The two planned to visit the kits every day for short amounts of time, bringing them food and letting them play for a little. Twilightsong and Sweetrose weren't sure what they would do when the kits grew old enough to become apprentices. They might move to SquirrelClan or RabbitClan, or perhaps they would become rogues. Twilightsong and Sweetrose were willing to do anything and live anywhere, as long as it made the kits safe and happy.

Twilightsong carefully placed the three kits in the small cave that led into Rocky Hollow. Sweetrose was carrying bits of moss to make little nests for the kits and some prey to keep them well-fed. Mossmeadow, the queen who had nursed the three kits because Pinepelt was dead, wouldn't be able to nurse them anymore. They were a little too young to start eating prey, but they had no choice. Sweetrose placed a little mossy nest for the kits to sleep in, along with a big mouse for them to share. _Names. These kits need names. _No cat had bothered to name the three kits, because they would be left to die when they were one moon old anyway. But now that Twilightsong knew they were going to live, they needed something to be called by.

"Sweetrose, we must name them," he whispered. He looked down at one of the tom-kits, a smoky-gray almost-black kit. He was sleeping so soundly. "I think I'm going to name this one Shadekit." Twilightsong glanced at the second tom, a pure white kit with hardly visible small light gray spots on his back. "Winterkit," he meowed. "His name will be Winterkit."

"I'm naming this one Foxkit," Sweetrose meowed softly. "She has beautiful red fur." Twilightsong nudged Foxkit gently. The red kit woke up quickly.

"Where am I? Who are you?" she meowed in fright.

"I'm Twilightsong, and this is my mate Sweetrose. You and your siblings must stay here in this little cave for now. There isn't time to explain, but it's for your own safety. Go to sleep, now, and don't let yourselves be seen. We will come back tomorrow night and explain everything to you, but you _must _stay hidden in this cave until then. When your brothers wake up, tell them what I said. You have this nest to sleep in and some prey to keep you fed until we come back to you tomorrow night. Do you understand?" he explained.

"Yes," Foxkit nodded quietly, then she lay back down next to her brothers, curling her tail around herself and closing her eyes.

_Hawkblaze, if you can hear me from StarClan...I want you to know that your kits will be safe. Sweetrose and I will defend them with our lives. As long as I have breath in my body, they will live the best lives they possibly can._


	2. Chapter 2

**Allegiances**

**BirdClan**

**Leader: **Brackenstar, light brown and yellow tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Blackfall, large black tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cats: **

Yellowdust, old light yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowheart, dark brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and paws with blue eyes

**Warriors:**

(Only mentioning those who are mentioned in this chapter)

Twilightsong, light gray-and-black tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Sweetrose, small orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes

**Queens:**

Mossmeadow, honey-colored she-cat with hazel eyes

**Kits:**

Shadekit, smoky-gray almost-black tom with green eyes

Winterkit, pure white tom with ice-blue eyes and hardly visible, light gray spots on his back

Foxkit, orange-and-red she-kit with green eyes and black paws.

**SquirrelClan**

**Leader: **Sagestar, very light gray she-cat with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Graypatch, dark gray tom with lighter patches

**RabbitClan  
**

**Leader: **Littlestar, small light brown tabby tom with brown eyes

**Deputy: **Shelltail, cream-colored she-cat with green eyes

**Peaceful Life:**

**Leader: **Gray Stone

**Second In Command: **Silent Stream

(Five moons after the previous chapter)

Foxkit was sleeping in the little cave she and her siblings shared when she felt her brother, Winterkit, pouncing on her.

"Foxkit! Look! Mother and Father are coming!" Winterkit yelped.

_Mother and Father? That doesn't make sense. It's dawn, and they always come at night! _Foxkit thought. She, of course, knew that Twilightsong and Sweetrose were not her real parents. She and her siblings knew all about what had happened to their real parents, and why they had to stay hidden away from BirdClan and Brackenstar. However, Twilightsong and Sweetrose had raised them, and they had grown up calling them Mother and Father.

"Winterkit, you're mouse-brained! Why would they be coming n-" Foxkit started, but when she opened her eyes, she indeed saw Twilightsong and Sweetrose making their way down to Rocky Hollow. Sweetrose padded down into the stone ravine and padded up to the cave.

"Kits, you are about the age of apprentices. You can't hide here any longer, and we can't take you to BirdClan. Twilightsong and I have thought about it for a while, and we have decided that we will all leave BirdClan and join Peaceful Life. If we explain that we are no longer loyal to BirdClan, they will for sure accept us. Maybe someday we can come back to BirdClan or join another Clan, but for now, we will be Peaceful Life cats."

_Peaceful Life? Aren't they the entire reason that we've had to stay hidden away this whole time? _Foxkit asked herself. _No, no, that's not right. Brackenstar is the reason we've had to stay hidden. She's the one who started the war with Peaceful Life, and she's the one who executed our father and almost left us to die. Right?_

"Great!" Shadekit squealed. "I can't wait to leave this tiny old den!" _Tiny old den? This is the den that kept us safe and kept us unseen! I think I'm going to miss it..._

"Will it be like living in a Clan?" Winterkit's mew was soft. _Is he...worried? Did he want to live in a Clan? Why?_

"In a way," Twilightsong meowed. "They will have similar postions to a Clan, and they have a naming system too."

"Will we learn how to fight? And hunt?" Winterkit pressed, his eyes hopeful.

"Peaceful Life does not teach cats how to fight, however, you will have to learn some fighting moves because they have been forced into a war with BirdClan. And they are all very skilled hunters," their father responded.

"Great! I want to learn how to fight!" Winterkit bounced around the cave.

"When do we leave?" Foxkit asked. _Can't I stay in Rocky Hollow for just one more night? To say goodbye?_

"I'm sorry, dear," Sweetrose's voice was sympathetic. "I know you want to stay here a little while longer, but we must leave now. You'll love to see the world beyond Rocky Hollow."

While Shadekit and Winterkit went flying out of the cave, Foxkit padded over to the back wall and touched her paw to the stone. _I'll miss you. _Then she slowly stepped out of the cave and followed her family up the steep path to the edge of Rocky Hollow. When she finally broke free from the underground, she was greeted by beautiful sights she had not seen in a long time. _Grass! Trees! Leaves! Flowers! _She vaguely remembered these things from the short moon she had spent living in BirdClan's nursery with Mossmeadow, a queen who had lost her own kits and had chosen to nurse Foxkit and her brothers.

"Follow us," Sweetrose instructed strictly. She and Twilightsong led them a long way in the opposite direction of BirdClan territory until at last they reached a line of scent markers.

"This is the border to Peaceful Life's territory. We shall wait here until a cat shows up, then explain what we're doing here and be escorted into their territory," Twilightsong explained. "Don't take a step across the border. Keep on the lookout for other ca-"

"What are you doing wating at the edge of our border?" came a sudden voice. They all turned to see young white tom with black curly stripes who had found them. "You're BirdClan, aren't you?"

"We are from there," Sweetrose meowed politely, "But we mean no harm. We are no longer loyal to BirdClan. You look young, but you do know of Hawkblaze, yes?"

"Young? I'm almost a full hunter!" the tom hissed. "Yes, I know of Hawkblaze. We have heard that he and Fallenleaf were executed by that apology-for-a-cat Brackenstar after it was discovered they were helping us." _Will he let us in? He doesn't seem to trust us. Will he believe us? _Foxkit worried.

"I am Sweetrose, and this is my mate, Twilightsong. He is Hawkblaze's brother. These are Hawkblaze's sons and daughter, Foxkit, Winterkit, and Shadekit. They're mother died while kitting them. Brackenstar would not accept these kits into her Clan, and she planned to leave them out alone to die. We saved them and hid them in a stone ravine in BirdClan's territory. They were well-hidden, but they could not live there forever. We have left BirdClan and taken them with us in hopes that we can join Peaceful Life." Sweetrose's voice was level and kind, and she had no response to the cat's rudeness.

"Huh. I can't just take you into the territory. Stay here, I'll go get my leader. He'll meet you at the border and speak with you." Without another word, the tom bolted away from them and into the distance. Foxkit could faintly see Peaceful Life's camp from the border, as that was how small their territory was.

"Hm. He said he was 'almost a full hunter'. Do you think 'hunter' is the Peaceful Life version of warrior?" Twilightsong pondered aloud.

"Perhaps," Sweetrose replied. "It makes sense, after all, Peaceful Life was created with the intention of having no violence or fighting, and only teaching cats how to be great hunters." Silence followed as the five cats waited for Peaceful Life's leader to come to them. At last, they spotted a tall, skinny dark gray tom, and gray-blue and silver she-cat, along with the apprentice-aged tom whom they had already met.

"Greetings. Lightning here has told me that you are former BirdClan cats looking to join us, yes?" the gray tom, presumably the leader, asked them.

"Yes. As we told your young friend here, Brackenstar would not take these kits into her Clan because of who their father is and so we wish to join you and live a better life," Twilightsong expalined again.

"Yes, I know. I am Gray Stone, the leader of Peaceful Life. This is my mate, as well as my Second In Command, or in your case, my deputy, Silent Stream, and this feisty one is our son Lightning. He has a different name then us because he is a hunter-in-training, or an apprentice, as the Clans call them. He will soon become a full hunter and bear a name such as Lightning Strike or Lightning Star," Gray Stone introduced. _Huh. So they kind of a naming system like the Clans do. _Foxkit observed. _Will we have to change our names? __I want to have a normal apprentice name and warrior name. _

_"_Follow me to our camp," without another question, Gray Stone bolted back in the direction he came from. Foxkit felt Sweetrose grab her by the scruff and carry her while they went after Gray Stone, struggling to keep up. Twilightsong was carrying her brothers. Lightning easily ran alongside his father, but Silent Stream lagged behind as well. After what felt like forever, Foxkit's eyes met a camp that seemed very similar to what she could remember about BirdClan's camp from the moon she had stayed there. It had dens made of rock, leaves, sticks, and wood. In the center of the camp was a big fresh-kill pile.

"This is the hunters' den," Silent Stream meowed, speaking for the first time since they had met her. "Over here is the hunter-in-trainings' den, or the H. ' den for short. And this place is the kits' den. It's where queens and their kits stay. In our camp, queens go back to being regular hunters when their kits become H. , at four moons old."

"Not much different from the system the Clans have," Twilightsong commented. "Do you have elders?"

"Elders?" Silent Stream asked, looking puzzled.

"In the Clans, elders are retired cats who are too old to preform their duties anymore. They do not hunt or fight and are taken care of by the whole Clan. They have their own den," Sweetrose explained. _So much explaining! I'm bored! When will we become apprentices...or...hunters-in-training? _

"Our group is very new. We do not have any old cats, or any systems for old cats, but perhaps we will in the future. You see, far off in the mountains, there is a group called The Mountain Claws. They live in huge caves and have a grand territory. Any creature who dares to enter their territory is almost always killed. They were very violent and harsh. Weak or old cats were often thrown out. Most of us Peaceful Life cats used to live with them, but Gray Stone formed a little group of his own, named it Peaceful Life, and fled from the mountains. Most of our customs come from The Mountain Claws, but we have no fighting and do not train our cats to fight. Of course, as long as this war with BirdClan goes on we will have to use some fighting moves that Hawkblaze and Fallenleaf taught us, but-"

"Silent Stream, we don't need to explain our entire history to them. I'm sure they're awfully bored," Gray Stone cut his mate off. The leader leapt up onto a big log and began to speak. "Sweetrose, Twilightsong, Foxkit, Winterkit, and Shadekit, your wish to join us has been accepted. By joining us, you agree to follow our customs and rules, and be loyal to us. I shall give you proper names, but I will make them as close to your Clan names as possible. Sweetrose, you shall now be pronounced as Sweet Rose. Twilightsong, you shall be pronounced as Twilight's Song. Foxkit, until you become a full hunter, you shall be pronounced as Fox. Winterkit, until you bec-"

"Actually," Twilight's Song spoke out, "We would like the kits to live the most Clanlike life possible. May they be given regular Clan apprentice names?"

Gray Stone paused thoughtfully, then nodded. "They may. Foxkit, you shall be pronounced as Foxpaw, Winterkit, you shall be pronounced as Winterpaw, and Shadekit, you shall be pronounced as Winterpaw."

_A Clanlike life? Do I really want to feel like I'm living in a Clan when I'm not? I want to be a full Peaceful Life cat. I don't want to have a paw in two worlds. Did we make the right choice by coming here?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Allegiances**

**BirdClan**

**Leader: **Brackenstar, light brown and yellow tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Blackfall, large black tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cats: **

Yellowdust, old light yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowheart, dark brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and paws with blue eyes

**SquirrelClan**

**Leader: **Sagestar, very light gray she-cat with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Graypatch, dark gray tom with lighter patches

**RabbitClan  
**

**Leader: **Littlestar, small light brown tabby tom with brown eyes

**Deputy: **Shelltail, cream-colored she-cat with green eyes

**Peaceful Life:**

**Leader: **Gray Stone, skinny gray tom with yellow eyes

**Second In Command: **Silent Stream, gray-blue she-cat with warm blue eyes

**Hunters:**

(Only mentioning those with appearances in this chapter)

Twilight's Song, light gray-and-black tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Sweet Rose, small orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes

Rising Sun, large yellow she-cat with blue eyes

Tall Tree, tall brown tabby tom with green eyes

**Hunters-In-Training**

Shadepaw, smoky-gray almost-black tabby tom with green eyes

Winterpaw, pure white tom with ice-blue eyes and hardly visible, light gray spots on his back

Foxpaw, orange-and-red she-kit with green eyes and black paws

Lightning, white tom with amber eyes

Lily, light yellow she-cat with green eyes

Shine, beautiful silver she-cat with brown eyes

_(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry, I've been really busy lately, but I decided it had been long enough since the last chapter was put out. Sorry this one is a bit short, I promise the next one will be longer and more exciting)_

_Finally, I have an actual home. It may not be a Clan, but it's close enough, _Winterpaw thought. He glanced at his siblings, Foxpaw and Shadepaw. Shadepaw was looking around smiling, but Foxpaw seemed to be deep in thought, and her thoughts seemed troubled. He would ask her about it later. _Until we can go be part of a real Clan, I'm going to live the most Clanish life possible here. It's going to be great._

"I guess you're with us now," Lightning's voice broke Winterpaw from his thoughts. The tom's voice sounded bitter as if to say, "Ugh, I guess I'm going to have to deal with _you _now," but Winerpaw could sense happiness from Lightning. _He likes me, but he wants to seem as though he doesn't so that he can seem "cool"._

"Are you the only other appren-I mean H.I.T in Peaceful Life right now?" Shadepaw's voice sounded behind him.

"No," Lightning seemed annoyed, but not at them. "I wish you guys were the only other hunters-in-training , but that's not true. The two others are named Lily and Shine, and they're sisters, and they're _super _annoying, and I think Shine has a huge crush on me, and she's even _more _annoying then Lily, and..." Lightning continued his rant for a while until he finished with, "And now _finally _you two are here and I don't have to live with just Annoying She-Cat Number One and Annoying She-Cat Number Two. Oh, but here comes Annoying She-Cat Number Three." Winterpaw turned to see that Foxpaw was approaching them. He immeadiatley became defensive and flattened his ears.

"Foxpaw's not that bad!" he spat.

"Maybe not to you, she's your sister, after all, but almost _every _she-cat I meet is annoying," Lightning retorted. Just then, Foxpaw bounded towards them and came into earshot.

"Gray Stone told me there are two other hunters-in-training here. Can we meet them?" Foxpaw was excited, with no hint of the anxiety Winterpaw had sensed from her a few minutes earlier.

"They're out training with Rising Sun and Tall Tree but they'll be back soon," Lightning snorted. "Anyways, I don't think you _want _to meet them."

"Huh? Why's that?" Foxpaw was oblivious.

"You'll see." _I thought he would want Foxpaw to become friends with Shine and Lily so that he stick with us and keep away from her. Why does he want her with us all the sudden? _Winterpaw wondered. "Wait!" he blurted. "Mentors! Your father forgot to give us mentors!"

"Mentors?" Lightning blinked. "What are mentors?"

"Y-you know, like, the cats who train the H. ? Isn't each H.I.T assigned a warrior-I mean a hunter to train them?" Winterpaw meowed quickly. He didn't want his Clanlike experience to be ruined! He _needed _a mentor! He just _needed _one!

"No, that must be some Clan thing," Lightning explained. "How it works here is the second-in-command, or in this case, Silent Stream, decided which apprentices will go out for training and when, and she chooses which cat will train them that day. Like, today, Silent Stream assigned Tall Tree to train Lily, but yesterday, Autmn's Leaf was the one who trained Lily. And later today _I'm_ going to go out and train with Autmn's Leaf."

"Okay then," Winterpaw answered, trying to hide his disappointment.

"Cool!" Shadepaw exclaimed. "That sounds _much _better than training with the same old cat each day."

Lightning flicked his tail and nodded. "Yeah. I can't imagine what having one single "_mentor" _must be like. I would hate that!" Winterpaw's shoulder's drooped. _I thought I was going to fit in best among my siblings! But instead it seems like I'm the worst, _he thought, while another side of his mind scolded, _No! Not today, Winterpaw! You're are NOT going to get all upset over this one little thing! Just let it go! Forget about it! _Winterpaw forced a smile as a light yellow she-cat and another silver she-cat came into the camp, along with the two cats who were probably Tall Tree and Rising Sun.

"Who are _they_?" Shine stared at Winterpaw, Shadepaw, and Foxpaw and smiled, while Lily loomed over them suspiciously. "What's going on? Gray Stone, what are these cats doing here? Th-they smell like _BirdClan!_" Lily suddenly backed away from them, afraid.

"They are runaways from BirdClan who are coming to join us," Gray Stone meowed calmly. "I expect you to treat them just as well as you would treat any other hunter-in-training. They do, however, have Clan apprentice names. Meet Foxpaw, Winterpaw, and Shadepaw."

Shine looked pleased, but Lily wrinkled her nose. "I'll be keeping a close eye on you," she glared at the three of them and trudged off into the hunters-in-training den. _I can respect Lily for that. I sure wouldn't trust some new cats coming from the enemy's side came to join my group, especially if I hadn't been there to witness the scene go down. But Shine...she seems a little...too friendly. It's weird. She's being so nice, and yet there's something...off about her kindness. _

"Silent Stream," Gray Stone announced, "You will take all three of the newcomers to train and teach them how everything works around here. Got it?"

"Of course," Silent Stream nodded respectfully to her mate and led Winterpaw and his siblings out of the camp.

_Well, _Winterpaw thought, _I guess it's time to find out whether or not this was a total mistake._


	4. Chapter 4

**Allegiances**

**BirdClan**

**Leader: **Brackenstar, light brown and yellow tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Blackfall, large black tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cats: **

Yellowdust, old light yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowheart, dark brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and paws with blue eyes

**SquirrelClan**

**Leader: **Sagestar, very light gray she-cat with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Graypatch, dark gray tom with lighter patches

**RabbitClan  
**

**Leader: **Littlestar, small light brown tabby tom with brown eyes

**Deputy: **Shelltail, cream-colored she-cat with green eyes

**Peaceful Life:**

**Leader: **Gray Stone, skinny gray tom with yellow eyes

**Second In Command: **Silent Stream, gray-blue she-cat with warm blue eyes

**Hunters:**

(Only mentioning those with appearances in this chapter)

Twilight's Song, light gray-and-black tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Sweet Rose, small orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes

**Hunters-In-Training**

Shadepaw, smoky-gray almost-black tabby tom with green eyes

Winterpaw, pure white tom with ice-blue eyes and hardly visible, light gray spots on his back

Foxpaw, orange-and-red she-kit with green eyes and black paws

Lightning, white tom with amber eyes

Lily, light yellow she-cat with green eyes

Shine, beautiful silver she-cat with brown eyes

Shadepaw glanced at his surroundings. It was a small, wet forest. Everything had changed so quickly. That morning he had been a kit sleeping in his nest at Rocky Hollow, and now he was a hunter-in-training in Peaceful Life. And Shadepaw _loved _it. He, unlike his siblings, loved it when old things changed. Things that stayed the same were boring. Things that changed were exciting. He had joyfully bounded out of the camp when Gray Stone announced that Silent Stream would be taking them out for training for the first time, while Winterpaw had looked uncertain and Foxpaw had looked nervous. At last, Silent Stream stopped walking. They were at the border.

"Do you know how to stalk?" Silent Stream asked them. They all shook their heads. "Do you know what stalking_ is_?"

"Slow walking?" Foxpaw ventured. "So that your prey doesn't hear or see you?"

"That's-well, that's right, but it's quite a simple definition." Shadepaw could sense Silent Stream becoming frustrated already. "Stalking means crouching down, with your senses alert and focused on your prey. It means making careful, silent, light, small pawsteps as you advance. It means avoiding twigs and pebbles so that you don't make a sound. Stalking is a strong power, it lets you get quite close to your prey without it running away. _Stalking _is the key to hunting. You know what else it means? It means knowing how close you need to get to your prey before you can _pounce. Pouncing _is the second key to hunting. Can anybody show me what pouncing looks like?"

"It looks like _this,_" Winterpaw announced as he bunched his haunches, released himself into the air, and aimed his paws straight at Shadepaw. He playfully landed on his brother, knocking him over.

Silent Stream shook her head. She did not seem like the type of cat who would tolerate sillyness at a serious time. "As Hawkblaze taught us, pouncing can be a term used in fighting. However, in this case, it is a hunting term. But, the way you pounce on an enemy is quite similar to the way you pounce on prey. You just need to put your paws closer together and have them more focused on the spot where your prey is, because your target is smaller. When you jump you need to be lower to the ground, and you also need to be quicker. Here," she grabbed a small leaf and placed it right beside a tree. "Winterpaw, go over there, right beside that bush. Pretend that this leaf is a mouse, and you just smelled it. It is focused on digging for seeds by that tree, but if you make a sound or get a little too close to it, it will instantly run off and you will be unable to catch it. You are too far away from the mouse to make a pounce from right here. So what do you do?"

"I...I stalk it?" Winterpaw answered, but he sounded unsure.

Silent Stream made a deep breath through her nose, seeming unimpressed. "Be certain! Stand up tall when you answer. Don't be scared. Let me ask you again. What do you do?"

Winterpaw stood up as tall as he could, with his head raised high, looking right at Silent Stream. "I _stalk _it," he answered again, swishing his tail, this time sounding assertive and sure of himself. Silent Stream nodded. "Show me," she commanded.

Winterpaw gazed at the leaf, his ears pricked. Shadepaw watched with awe as his brother followed Silent Stream's exact order. The white tom crouched down, and slowly but steadily raised one paw, before quietly placing back down on the forest floor. All you could hear was the nearby birds chirping and little frogs croaking as Winterpaw made his way closer and closer to the leaf-mouse. Then, without warning, Winterpaw blasted into the air and crashed into the leaf-mouse. He hit it with such force that he created a little wind that lifted the leaf-mouse up before it fluttered back down the ground.

"Great job," Silent Stream applauded, "But your pounce was quite off. You did land on the mouse, but not with your paws. Never mind, it's only your first day, you'll learn how to pounce soon enough. Foxpaw, you're next."

Foxpaw was quicker, but she still mostly did what Silent Stream said, until at one point when a twig crunched under her paw. Foxpaw finished with a graceful pounce, her paws landing directly on the leaf. Silent Stream was pleased with Foxpaw's pounce, but not so much with her stalking. She had Foxpaw try again. This time the red she-cat did it almost perfectly, not making a sound until she made her attack on the leaf-mouse. _Silent Stream is a really good teacher! She's teaching us quickly and effectivley. But she does talk a lot. It's strange. She was so quiet when we were back at camp._ Then it was Shadepaw's turn.

Shadepaw stood right at the bush, staring at the leaf-mouse. He lifted his first paw, and then-_crunch! _He had stepped on several leaves at once. The sound was far too loud and he started again. Shadepaw made it a little closer to the mouse before _oops! _He had been to quick and let his tail drag on the ground. He tried again. Nope. His belly was too close to the ground and he lost his balance. And again. Nope. His paw steps were too quick. Again. His paws were too hard on the ground. Again. He was far too slow, and Slent Stream said that if he took that long the mouse was sure to notice him, or it would be done digging for seeds and would already be on it's way. And again. He stepped on a branch. Again. He was too fast and loud. After many, many tries, Shadepaw attempted to just run up to the leaf-mouse and pounce on it. Silent Stream told him that while the method could sometimes work and that his pounce had been amazing, it was not what they were supposed to be working on. After about a half hour of _so many _failures, Silent Stream took them back to camp. Shadepaw was very embarassed. His siblings had only taken about five minutes to get it right. He had taken six times as many, and he hadn't gotten it right _once. _

That night, Shadepaw was hanging out in the hunters-in-training den. While Lightning, Foxpaw, Winterpaw, Shine, and Lily had fun and talked about all sorts of things, Shadepaw stayed quiet and thought.

_It's only my first day. I'm sure I'll be just as good as Foxpaw and Winterpaw with some practice. Maybe hunting just isn't my thing. Maybe I'm meant for fighting. After all, we probably won't be staying with Peaceful Life forever. I'm going to be fine. _

_Right?_


	5. Chapter 5

**Allegiances**

**BirdClan**

**Leader: **Brackenstar, light brown and yellow tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Blackfall, large black tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cats: **

Yellowdust, old light yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowheart, dark brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and paws with blue eyes

**SquirrelClan**

**Leader: **Sagestar, very light gray she-cat with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Graypatch, dark gray tom with lighter patches

**RabbitClan  
**

**Leader: **Littlestar, small light brown tabby tom with brown eyes

**Deputy: **Shelltail, cream-colored she-cat with green eyes

**Peaceful Life:**

**Leader: **Gray Stone, skinny gray tom with yellow eyes

**Second In Command: **Silent Stream, gray-blue she-cat with warm blue eyes

**Hunters:**

(Only mentioning those with appearances in this chapter)

Twilight's Song, light gray-and-black tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Sweet Rose, small orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes

Rising Sun, large yellow she-cat with blue eyes

**Hunters-In-Training**

Shadepaw, smoky-gray almost-black tabby tom with green eyes

Winterpaw, pure white tom with ice-blue eyes and hardly visible, light gray spots on his back

Foxpaw, orange-and-red she-kit with green eyes and black paws

Lightning, white tom with amber eyes

Lily, light yellow she-cat with green eyes

Shine, beautiful silver she-cat with brown eyes

Foxpaw's eyes flicked open a sliver, and then closed again. After a few minutes, Foxpaw opened her eyes fully and looked around her. She was in a mossy nest that lay inside a bramble den. Early morning light from the outside shined into the den. Around her, in several other nests, were her brothers, and three other unfamiliar cats. One was a tall, skinny, white tom who looked similar to Winterkit. One was a small, dainty, light yellow she-cat, and another she-cat, larger than the other two cats, who's pelt was a beautiful shade of shimmering silver. _Where am I? What happened? Where's Rocky Hollow? Who are those strange cats? _Foxpaw panicked for several moments before the events of the previous day flooded into her mind. She was a Peaceful Life cat, Winterkit and Shadekit were now Winterpaw and Shadepaw, and the three unfamilar cats were Lightning, Lily, and Shine. Foxpaw let out a yawn and gazed outside. Gray Stone and Silent Stream were awake, sharing tongues in the center of the clearing. It seemed that nobody else was up. After lying in her nest for a few more minutes and procastinating on when to get up, Foxpaw slowly lifted herself out ofher nest, stood up, and carefully stepped over Shadepaw on her way out of the den.

Upon noticing her, Gray Stone looked up and greeted Foxpaw with a, "Good morning. Sleep well?" She responded with a drowsy nod.

"Ah, Foxpaw, I'd like to let you know that I'll be training you and your brothers every day until you guys are used to this place," Silent Stream informed her. Foxpaw nodded again, and smiled to herself. _I like having Silent Stream train us. She doesn't waste time.  
_Foxpaw sat down and waited beside the hunters-in-training den for her brothers to wake up.

"Foxpaw?" Gray Stone questioned. "Aren't you going to wake your brothers?"

"Huh? No, they love to sleep," Foxpaw answered.

"It's fine, most of the Peaceful Life are early risers, so your brothers will have to get used to it. Anyways, you'll be bored just sitting around waiting. Go on, wake them up, please," the leader ordered. Foxpaw returned to the H.I.T den to wake Shadepaw and Winterpaw, but along the way she wondered, _Hm. Do other cats get bored more easily than me and my brothers? I guess that makes sense, we spent almost our entire kithood sitting in our den in Rocky Hollow not doing much. _

"Winterpaw! Winterpaw! Wake up!" Foxpaw nudged her brother harshly. Winterpaw blinked and opened his eyes. He groaned. He opened his mouth, but Foxpaw hissed, "No objections, Silent Stream wants us up and at the border to train with her like yesterday!" Winterpaw rolled his eyes but willingly stood up. He woke up Shadepaw, but not before complaining, "But I thought we were going to have a different cat train us each day! Not her again!" _What's he talking about? Silent Stream is a _great _teacher! _"I'll explain later, just wake Shadepaw up and let's get going!" Foxpaw was getting aggrivated now. It was awfully annoying to her that she was excited and quick to get ready but her brothers were in no hurry. When her brothers were ready at last and about to leave the campalong with Foxpaw and Silent Stream, a golden she-cat came bolting into the camp, breathing heavily. It was Rising Sun, one of Peaceful Life's hunters.

"B-birdClan!" the she-cat stuttetered through her gasps. "They're coming! Look out!" The camp became an uproar of terrified cries. Gray Stone stood on his log, and feircely commanded, "H. ! Into your den! Stay hidden, we don't want you getting involved! Except for you, Lightning. You'll be fighting in this battle. I think you're ready." The leader glanced at Foxpaw, Shadepaw, and Winterpaw. "It's probably not a good idea to let Brackenstar no you're alive. Try not to let yourselves be seen. Twilight's Song! Sweet Rose! Hide with them. Brackenstar could be looking for you." Twilight's Song and Sweet Rose had been hunting hard ever since they had joined Peaceful Life. It was a miracle that they had been in camp when Rising Sun had come, or they would have been alone and unknowing. As soon as Gray Stone gave the word, every cat got in their positions; Lightning and all of the other hunters ready for battle, and Twilight's Song, Sweet Rose, and all of the other in the H.I.T den. Foxpaw, trembling with fear and shock, squished herself into the very corner. Shadepaw and Winterpaw backed up angainst the bramble wall, close to her, as if they were guards.

Not very long after, a thunderstorm of pawsteps came into the camp, growling and hissing. A voice that was unmistakably Brackenstar yowled out, "Twilightsong and Sweetrose have gone missing ove the last few days. We know it is because of you. I hope this will be our last battle, and that by the end of it, you will be gone from our lands and give us our warriors back!"

"We have heard nothing of these missing warriors!" Gray Stone lied. Although Foxpaw could not see him, she imagined that he was still standing on his log, his teeth bared, his claws unshesthed, and in a fighting stance. "Leave us alone!" From there, Foxpaw could only hear hissing, growling, clawing, scractching, biting, yowling, and insults. When she squinted, she could faintly see the shape of Lightning courageously battling a BirdClan warrior. The warrior attacked Lightning and brought him down. Lightning powerfully shoved the warrior off of him and attack back. He pinned the BirdClan cat down and nipped the cat's ear before letting it go. Foxpaw tried her best to see what was going on, but she had to stay hidden. After a while of fighting, Brackenstar growled, "That's it! I'm done with this! if you won't back down and give up, I guess I'll just have to destroy the source of the problem!" Foxpaw couldn't take it any longer. She burst away from the corner and made her way closer to the den entrance, trying her best to still stay unseen. She saw that Brackenstar was wrestling with Gray Stone. _Is she...does she mean that Gray Stone is the source of the problem? She's not...she can't be...she's not trying to kill him, right? _The light brown tabby at last had Gray Stone pinned down.

"Any last words?" she hissed vicously. Without warning, Twilight's Song ripped out of the den and shoved Brackenstar off of his leader.

"Twilightsong? You...you're _with _them? You _traitor!" _Brackenstar's rage seemed to flood into her claws. She knocked into Twilight's Song, but the tom stayed strong and stayed standing.  
"It's _Twilight's Song _now!" he furiously explained. "I could never stay loyal to you after you executed my own brother for doing the right thing! Peaceful Life never did a thing to you! Sweet Rose is here too. And you know what? Hawkblaze's kits that you 'killed' are alive! We saved them! They live here now!" Foxpaw felt dizzy from all of the anger that was breaking out in every cat.

"You'll die for this!" Brackenstar hurled herself at Twilight's Song in one last bloodthristy attempt to kill him. Most of BirdClan's warriors stopped fighting and stood horrified as they watched their leader rip the life from their former Clanmate. Brackenstar sliced Twilight's Song's belly. The tom fell to the ground. Foxpaw trembled. She wasn't sure that her foster father was alive. She couldn't tell. Never before had she felt so terrified. Out of nowhere, Silent Stream emerged from some unknown hiding spot and attacked Brackenstar from the back of her neck. The leader died instantly, but Foxpaw knew it was very unlikely that that was her last life. At this point, all of BirdClan's wariors had retreated. Silent Stream stood over Brackenstar's body, waiting to see if she would wake up. After what felt like forever, Brackenstar began to stir once more. She stood up, took one terrified glance at the cats around her, and without a word, raced away and retreated along with her Clanmates.

Foxpaw stared down at Twilight's Song. _Is...is he dead?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Allegiances**

**BirdClan**

**Leader: **Brackenstar, light brown and yellow tabby she-cat with amber eyes

**Deputy: **Blackfall, large black tom with yellow eyes

**Medicine Cats: **

Yellowdust, old light yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowheart, dark brown tabby she-cat with white underbelly and paws with blue eyes

**SquirrelClan**

**Leader: **Sagestar, very light gray she-cat with yellow eyes

**Deputy: **Graypatch, dark gray tom with lighter patches

**RabbitClan  
**

**Leader: **Littlestar, small light brown tabby tom with brown eyes

**Deputy: **Shelltail, cream-colored she-cat with green eyes

**Peaceful Life:**

**Leader: **Gray Stone, skinny gray tom with yellow eyes

**Second In Command: **Silent Stream, gray-blue she-cat with warm blue eyes

**Hunters:**

(Only mentioning those with appearances in this chapter)

Twilight's Song, light gray-and-black tabby tom with dark blue eyes

Sweet Rose, small orange-and-white she-cat with green eyes

Berry Leaf, small ginger tom with green eyes

Blossom Flower, black she-cat with orange spots and amber eyes

**Hunters-In-Training**

Shadepaw, smoky-gray almost-black tabby tom with green eyes

Winterpaw, pure white tom with ice-blue eyes and hardly visible, light gray spots on his back

Foxpaw, orange-and-red she-kit with green eyes and black paws

Lightning, white tom with amber eyes

Lily, light yellow she-cat with green eyes

Shine, beautiful silver she-cat with brown eyes

Once Brackenstar had retreated, Winterpaw shot away from his hiding spot in the corner of the H. den, brushing up angainst his sisters' pelt as they looked at their foster father's body. He couldn't see if Twilight's Song was alive. A thought, more like a poem, went through his mind;

_Shaking,_

_trembling,_

_a horrible,_

_silence,_

_surrounding,_

_the camp,_

_terrified,_

_mortified,_

_this can't be_

_real._

Gray Stone stepped forward and stood over Twilight's Song. The gray-and-black tabby was still. Gray Stone placed a paw over Twilight's Song's heart. Winterpaw felt as though his entire body had frozen to ice, and that he could not move until the void of soundless noises ended. Gray Stone took a deep breath, and quietly meowed, "He's alive."

Winterpaw expected that joy and releif would wash over him, but he felt nothing but more pain and worry. _He's alive now. But with the wounds he's been given, he won't be for long, unless we act quick._

"I-I can get him some more marigold and cobwebs!" a young ginger tom raised his voice. Gray Stone quickly nodded and the tom dashed into the forest.

"I still have some leftover marigold and cobwebs from the last time Fallenleaf and Hawkblaze visited before their execution in my store but very little," meowed a spotted she-cat. "I pray to the spirits that Berry Leaf will come back with enough herbs to treat Twilight's Song."

_Oh yeah. Fallenleaf gave a few Peaceful Life cats education on some herbs. Berry Leaf and whoever she is must be those cats._ Winterpaw thought as the spotted cat disappered into the hunter's den and came back with a few cobwebs and a miserably small amount of marigold. She put her cobwebs over the wounds, preventing the unconcious Twilight's Song from losing anymore blood. It didn't seem to be very helpful, there just weren't enough cobwebs.

"Wait! Goldenrod is good for wounds too!" Shadepaw shouted. "And dock leaves they...they can ease the pain! It will help him wake up! I'll see if there are any in your territory!" _Since when does Shadepaw know anything about herbs?_

"You can't just go out by yourself-" Spotted She-Cat interjected, but Shadepaw, determined to help his foster father, sprinted out of the camp. Spotted She-Cat started after him, but Gray Stone called to her, "Blossom Flower, let him go. He'll be fine. He may find us herbs we wouldn't have used before." Blossom Flower reluculantly stopped and sat down. Tension spread through the camp as they waited impatiently for either Berry Leaf or Shadepaw to return. When a dark tabby finally burst out of the undergrowth and into the camp, Winterpaw still felt no relief.

"I couldn't find any Goldenrod, but I found some dock leaves and a bunch of cobwebs!" Shadepaw mewed through his gasps after placing his herbs before Blossom Flower, who in turn applied more cobwebs to Twilight's Song. The bleeding had eased and Berry Leaf eventually returned with some marigold, but it wasn't much. Still, it was better than nothing, and the marigold was instantly used on Twilight's Song's wounds. Several minutes they, they decided it was time to use the dock leaves.

"Shadepaw, how exactly do we use the dock leaves? Do we apply them to his wounds, like the other herbs? Or do we feed it to him? We might have to wake him for that," Berry Leaf meowed cautiously.

"Er...um..." Shadepaw wasn't sure. He didn't feel that he was qualified to answer such a heavy question, especially when answering incorrectly could lead to serious consequences.

"I know!" Sweet Rose put in, having been speechless for some time. "I learned from watching BirdClan's medicine cat. We need to put the leaves in his nest and then lift him into his nest."

Gray Stone nodded. "Berry Leaf and Blossom Flower, get him to his nest! Be careful!"

Immeadiatley the dock leaves were pressed into Twilight's Song's mossy bed and Twilight's Song was placed in it. Sweet Rose stayed by his side, waiting for him to wake. There was too much tension and worry in the camp for any of the hunters-in-training to be trained. They spent most of the day confined in their den. Blossom Flower, Berry Leaf, and surprising Shadepaw were out and about looking after the other wounded cats. Winterpaw, at last, came out to the other H. .

"We should all sneak out. And go hunting. The group needs more food. We should make ourselves useful," he announced.

"I'm not sure..." Lightning backed away. "Seems like it would just get us in trouble. I can't risk that. I'm so close to becoming a full hunter."

"Fine," Winterpaw shrugged. "Anyone else?"

"Winterpaw's right," Foxpaw stepped up to defend her brother. "It seems like no cat here has had a full belly in ages, ever since the war with BirdClan began and cats haven't had enough time to hunt."

"I agree. And i'm super bored, so I'll come with," Lily meowed. "Shine, how about it?"

"Absolutely not!" Shine hissed. "I'm an obidient cat! In fact, I'm sure I'll make myself more useful than you will. I'm going to help Shadepaw." The silver tabby stood up and padded out of the den.

Winterpaw gazed at Foxpaw and Lily. "Let's go then," he whispered. He slipped out of the den, the two she-cats following, and disappeared into the forest. Lightning watched them and looked as if to say, _This is a bad idea._

_He's wrong, _Winterpaw thought. _We're going to bring back lots of prey, and the other cats will thank us. Peaceful Life needs this. I know it._


End file.
